Washington 



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BY SAMUEL L. SOUTHARa 



ijELIVERED AT TRENTON, N. J. FEB. 22, 1832. 



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Trenton, February 14, ISSS^ 
Sir, 
The Legislative Council and House of Assembly having 
each appointed a committee of their own body, to unite with 
a committee of the citizens of Trenton, to make arrange- 
ments for celebrating the centennial birth day of Washington^ 
the father of his country ; these committees, in a meeting held 
this day for executing the trust reposed in them, have unani- 
mously made choice of you to deliver the Oration on the oc- 
casion, and have deputed us to apprise you of their choice, 
and to request your acceptance of the appointment. From 
a conviction that no one will give more general satisfaction 
to the public, or do more honor to the occasion, permit us to 
add our earnest hope that you will return a favorable answer^ 
We shall be gratified to receive it by the stage that brings- 
you this. 

We are with sentiments of great respect, 
Your friends, 

JohnWllson, \ Ccmtnitiee 

William R. Allen. \ ^^m^^^^^^^^ 

Samuel L, Southard, Esq., Attorney General 

To John Wilson and Wm. i?. Allen, Esqrs., Committee, Sfc, 
Sirs, 
I have been honored by your letter of the 14th, which 
informs me, that the Legislative Council and House of As- 
sembly have each appointed a committee of their own body, 
to unite with a committee of the citizens of Trenton, to make 
arrangements for celebrating the centennial birth dffy of 



Washington, the father of his country; that these commit- 
tees, in a meeting held for executing the trust reposed in 
them, unanimously made choice of me to deliver the Oration 
on the occasion, and that they deputed you to apprise me of 
their choice, and to request my acceptance of the appoint- 
ment. 

The near approach of the day — the feeble state of my 
health — my absence from home — and the pressure of official 
and professional engagements, will render it extremely diffi- 
cult for me to comply with this request. But an invitation 
emanating from such a source, to partake in the discharge of 
a duty in which every patriotic heart will take an interest, 
commands my acquiescence, and I do not feel at liberty to 
refuse. I tender to you my thanks for the kind terms in 
which you have made this communication to me — and am 

Very respectfully &c. 

Samuel L. Southard. 
.Mount Holly, 16 Feb. 1832. 



Trenton, February 23, 1832. 
Samuel L. Southard, Esq. 

Sir, 
The undersigned take great pleasure in performing the 
duty assigned them by the joint committees of the members 
of the Legislalure of New Jersey and of the citizens of Tren- 
ton, of presenting to you the thanks of those they represent, 
for the able and eloquent Oration dehvered by you at their 
request, on the 22d inst., the centennial anniversary of the 
birth of George Washington, and of requesting of you the 
fevor of a copy for publication. We have the honor to be, 
With great respect, 

Your obedient servants, 

I. H. Williamson, 
Jehu Pattersoiy, 
James D. Westcott, 



To Isaac H. Williamson, Jehu Patterson and James D. West^ 
cott Esquires, Committee, ^c. i^c. 

SiRSj 

I have to acknowledge your request, for a copy of the 
Address deUvered by me, on the 22d inst. ; you are aware 
of the extreme haste with which it was written, and which 
precluded the possibility of that careful preparation, which 
my respect for those who called for its delivery, would, under 
other circumstances, have demanded, My other engage- 
ments, and the necessity I am under, of leaving home, now 
prevent the revision, which I should otherwise think it my 
duty to bestow upon it. It is therefore reluctantly commits 
ted to you, in its present form — but the feehngs which dicta^ 
ted obedience to your invitation, require compliance with 
your present request. 

I am, Sirs, very respectfully, &c. &c. 

Samuel h- Southarp, 

Trenton, 25th Feb. 1832, 



r. J. GRAY, PRINTER, 
TRENTON, N. J. 



■^ 



A SPECTACLE of iiioral grandeur is this day exhibited 
before the civihzed world. These constituted autho- 
rities of our Government — tliis assembled multitude 
can have been moved by no ordinary cause, by no 
evanescent feeling. They have combined publicly to 
acknowledge a debt of gratitude, Vv'hich they owe — to 
proclaim their admiration of the Providential instru- 
ment by which their liberty v/as accomplished, and to 
leave to their children, an united testimony in favor of 
human rights. And they are not alone. The Go- 
vernment of a confederacy of nations— a powerful, 
free, intelligent and jealous people, are tendering the 
same homage at the same shrine. 

Whence, whence, this great movement? The name 
of Washington, which fills every bosom, and bursts 
from every lip, announces the cause, and justifies the 
ejQect. People and Government, have equal reason to 
manifest their abiding sense of the favor of Provi- 
dence, which gave to us so efficient an instrument in 
securing our prosperity and happiness. A century of 
years have rolled on since that gift was made, and in 
their course have presented no parallel object of love 
and admiration. One third of a century has elapsed 
since our fall icr was taken from us; and although at 

A 



every hour in its progress, we have felt and enjoyccl 
the blessings of his services and example, we over- 
looked and forgot the solemn pledge which was given 
in the hour of our grief by the representatives of our 
will— yet, to-day, the promise has been retollected, and 
the pledge redeemed, so far as our power extends to its 
accomplishment. The Government of the land has 
sought to execute the unanimous resolution of Seven- 
teen hundred and ninety-nine, and to place the remains 
of our fellow citizen— not by the side of kings and em- 
perors, for he was not one of them, nor partook in the 
titles and trappings of their illegitimate authority — 
not among the tombs of other great and good men,- 
for in life and action, he did not move in the sphere 
of the common great — but as the first and worthiest 
citizen among freemen — alone — in the centre of the 
capitol of a growing empire, whose birth he vv^itnessed, 
whose renown he advanced — there to remain under a 
nation's guardianship and power, while that empire 
shall stand — a perpetual monument, to remind us of 
the glory of the past — -of the duties of the present, and 
the obligations of coming times. The effort has failed,, 
but the wish has been recorded; and posterity will learn^ 
that amidst all our conflicts of feeling and opinion, in 
our veneration for Washington, we were an united 
people. 

The occasion bids me remind you of him and oi' 
his actions— of the example which he gave, and of the 
lessons which he taught; and mingled as they are, 
with all that is great and good in human character, 
and interwoven as they have been, with a nation's his- 
tory, and the establishment of the institutions which 



form the purest models of legalized and constitutional 
liberty ; and acting, as they must, on the future hopes 
of freedom and the destinies of the human race, I feel 
that to speak of them without fitting preparation, is 
inexcusable folly — but the command under which I 
appear leaves me no alternative, and I fly to the feel- 
ings of the heart, there to find an apology for the fee- 
bleness of the portraiture. These feelings, in speaker 
and hearer, demand the sacrifice of every selfish con- 
sideration — the forgetfulness of every party strife— 
the triumph of virtuous and patriotic emotion. We 
have come as to a father's grave ; there to celebrate 
his birth, to enumerate his virtues, and exult that he 
was ours and our country's. 

But where shall we begin and where end this duty? 
The story of his life cannot be told in the brief space 
of a passing hour. The lightning flight of thought 
itself, could not glance at all that memory would de- 
light to recal, and the glowing colors of poetry and 
eloquence would be required to finish the portrait; but 
these are not mine, and vou must be content with a 
hasty, unadorned reference to a few^ of the incidents 
of his eventful life, and plain suggestions of the instruc- 
tion to be drawn from his actions and his death: and 
these made, not in the spirit of idolatry for a fellow 
man, but with profound gratitude to Heaven, which 
created such an agent for human good. 

George WAsmNGTON was not born to the affluence 
which many of his fellow citizens possessed, and which 
might have relaxed the exertions of his youth, and 
weakened the energy of his virtues. His education 
was not extensively classical and liberal; but the ear^- 



liest lessons wliicli he learned, were those of truth, in- 
tegrity, filial reverence and piety towards God. A 
father\s counsel and a mother's love, impressed these 
principles, and nurtured the infancy of his mighty 
mind, and gave it that decided and manly firmness 
which sustained him in every vicissitude and trial, and 
enal)led him to erect tliat magnificence of character, 
which stands without a rival. Shall not wc, who are 
fathers and mothers, remember this truth, that our 
sons may receive the blessing? 

The selected exercises and sports of his youth, w^ere 
of the active and athletic kind, which gave vigor to his 
body, and left the heart untainted and the mind unhurt. 
He was early, but virtuously bent on fame. Influenced, 
perhaps, by the colonial condition and relations of his 
native land, he would have sought it in the fleet of the 
mother country, whose track has been said to be upon 
the mountain wave, and her home upon the deep; but 
this was not the road w^iich Providence designed him 
to travel, and a mother's tenderness was made the 
agent to restrain him, and direct him to another, and 
which, in the end, and without her design, proved a 
nobler career. 

From the age of nineteen, when he had conquered 
the confidence of his native state, so far as to hold the 
office of Adjutant General, up to the moment when he 
closed his presidential labors, every step in the pro- 
gress of our country, is a portion of his biography. 
The stations which he filled w^ere numerous, but he 
did not select any one of them except the first ; for 
his was the popularity which followed virtuous deeds. 
His temper, his firmness, his unfaltering perseverance, 



his sound, jiiaclical foresight of tlic future, were all 
exhibited on that lirst occasion. When Governor 
Dinwiddie desired to send to the French commander, 
a warning not to encroach upon the British domi- 
nions by extending his chain of fortifications along 
the Ohio, he knew not where to procure an agent equal 
to an enterprise which required perseverance and skill, 
and was beset by all the dangers, which an imtra- 
versed wilderness and liostilc savages could create. 
Washington, then less than twenty-two years old, ten- 
dered his services for this enterprise, and in its per- 
formance, and the journal which accompanied his re- 
port, exhibited an accurate knowledge of the country, 
a prophetic anticipation of events, a profound obser- 
vation of the character of the enemy and his savage 
allies, which extorted the applause of his countrymen; 
and if they had profited by his wisdom and ability to 
serve them, the desolation of their frontiers would 
have been less calamitous, the mountains and rivers 
would not have been reddened by the blood of Virgi- 
nians, nor the hills of the Monongahela, whitened for 
ages, by the bones of the slaughtered men whom the 
proud and self confident Braddock commanded. It 
was on the accomplishment of that enterprise, and 
the presentation of this journal, that the incident oc- 
curred, which so beautifully illustrated the modesty 
and sensibility of feeling which accompanied him 
through all the successes of his splendid life. On his 
entering the gallery of the House of Delegates, una- 
ware of the praise which he had extorted, the Speaker 
stated, that it had been proposed that the thanks of 
the Horce should be given to Major Washington, for 



10 

the gallant manner in which he had executed the trust 
reposed in him. The House rose and saluted him 
with expressions of approbation. He sought to return 
his acknowledgments, but his tongue refused its office. 
All that he could utter, upon three successive efforts, 
was the words " Mr. Speaker," and he was relieved 
by the Speaker saying to him, " Major Washington, 
sit down, your modesty alone is equal to your me- 
rits." He whose capacious mind embraced the wide 
interests of his country — who never trembled amidst 
the thickest and most appalling dangers, was silenced 
and unnerved by the thanks which were his due. 

From this period, up to his appointment as the 
commander of our armies, he was principally occu- 
pied in the defence of his fellow citizens from the in- 
cursions of their savage foes, or ministering to their 
prosperity and freedom in the halls of legislation — 
both in his own state and in that Congress whose wis- 
dom and firmness so eflectually guarded our rights. 
He encountered every hardship, and was often in pe- 
rils, from which it seems almost incredible that he 
should have escaped uninjured; but he was shielded by 
that power, which could turn aside the Indian's arrow, 
or the rifle's aim, and save him for the high destiny 
to which he was designed. 

In his political opinions, he always sustained his 
country's rights against the claims of her oppressor, 
and in legislation, was the unwavering advocate of 
just laws and legalized liberty. And every hour not 
only augmented the confidence of his immediate fel- 
low citizens, but extended his fame, so that the way 
was prepared for that proud exhibition of patriotism, 



li 

when the elder Adams and otliers, the rcprcscntativcs- 
of rival states, forgetting their personal predilections 
and local prejudices, with full hearts, and looking only 
at their country, chose him as the leader of the armies 
of liberty. On this choice, depended, in a great de- 
gree, not the hberties of this land alone — but its con- 
sequences were to operate through the long ages 
which shall precede the final victory of human rights 
over the powers of despotism, and facilitate that vic- 
tory. And well did the choice befit the time; and 
well have the results testified to the wisdom of the 
choice. The pious heart will scarcely resist the sug- 
gestion, that here was a peculiar manifestation of an 
interposing Providence. This choice was made at the 
time when the soul of Warren took its flight, and his 
blood cried for the avenger of liberty — and the aven- 
ger was found. 

He received this appointment with his own charac- 
teristic diffidence-—" I beg," said he, " it may be re- 
membered that I this day declare, with the utmost sin- 
cerity, that I do not think myself equal to the command 
with which I am honored ;" but his diffidence, to use 
his own expression, when he afterwards resigned the 
trust, " was superceded by a confidence in the recti- 
tude of the cause, and the patronage of Heaven ;" and 
with unhesitating self devotion, he entered upon Ms 
trust, and never was one more wisely met, or more am- 
ply repaid. I shall not fatigue you with the story of 
the battles which he fought ; or the tribulations which 
he endured : but there is one portion of the history; one 
incident of the struggle, which, standing where I doj 
and in the presence of this people, it would be unpar- 



12 

donabic to overlook. Vf e arc Jersey men, and on our 
narrow territory, a large portion of his labors were ex- 
pended, a goodly share of his glory was won. Our fa- 
thers witnessed, and their children should speak of 
them. We stand too, upon the spot, consecrated by pa- 
triot blood — where the first bright ray of light broke in 
upon the gloom with which our country's hopes were 
enveloped, and where too, every distinguishing trait, 
in the character of the great warrior was displayed. 
The Declaration of Independence had been succeeded 
by a rapid succession of defeats, of depressing misfor- 
tunes; and the twenty-fifth of December, seventeen 
hundred and seventy-six, found him and the country in 
a position, in which to have despaired would scarcely 
have been criminal. The powerful army of the vic- 
torious enemy, possessed that proud city, which is 
now the commercial emporium of the Union, and 
destined ere long to hold the same rank, in the whole 
commercial world — -occupied every portion of the 
territory of our State ; and threatened the capital of 
the confederacy—while an irresistible fleet waited its 
commands, and aided its movements. Before this 
power, he had retreated from point to point, until the 
waters of the Delaware were interposed, as a feeble 
barrier ; but he liad done so, in that spirit, which de- 
clared, " If we can do no better, we will retreat over 
every river in America, and last of all, over the moun- 
tains, whence we shall not lack opportunities to an- 
noy, and finally, I hope, to expel the enemies of our 
country." He commanded only a miserable remnant 
of three thousand men, and had not even clothing to 
guard them from the winter's frost, nor the sustenance 



13 

necessaiy to support them — -and in one short week 
a large part of that httle remnant, was to leave him* 
He looked around, for relief, in vain — from no quarter 
was succor promised. Despair brooded over the 
country, and many of the stoutest hearts quailed be* 
neath the pressure of their fears. But despair came 
not near to him. From the Rock where his trust was 
anchored, he heard the voice, " fear not, for I am with 
thee." Perceiving that by a concerted movement up- 
on Trenton, Bordentown and Burlington, he might at 
each point assail a force superior to his own, and 
perhaps by surprise, succeed in dispersing and driving 
back the enemy, he made tlie effort vvith a prompt- 
ness and energy never surpassed by any leader. 
The plan at the other points, was rendered impracti- 
cable, by the severity of the weather and the state of 
the river; but where he himself commanded, the pas- 
sage was accomplished after five hours exertion, 
amidst ice and snow and hail, the very tempest of 
the elements- — ^some of his men perishing from cold, 
and all benumbed and enfeebled. Although he crossed 
his whole force over the Delaware, within nine miles 
of the enemy, he would himself have been the mes- 
senger vv^hich bore the information to them — ^but the 
delay occasioned by the condition of the river, pre- 
vented the entire surprise which he intended — and 
gave the enemy, superior in numbers and discipline, 
fresh and vigorous, opportunity of preparation for the 
conflict. He looked at his small, ill clad, benumbed 
and exhausted band; the contest seemed to promise 
little hope ; but he felt that the great issue, depend- 
ed much on the results of that hour, and in his 

B 



u 

own emphatic language to a friend, he " determinel 
to trust in God and his sword, and go forward." Th© 
victory was obtained. On this spot the trophy of his 
genius was erected— and here, he turned back the tide 
of misfortune. His loss was comparatively small ; but 
among the wounded, there was one, whom I love t& 
mention, when the actions of the good and great ar© 
subjects of eulogy. He w^as Monroe, the volunteer 
youth of nineteen, who here evidenced with his blood,, 
the sincerity of his love to that country, which he has 
since served with a purity of purpose, wdth a self de^ 
votion and constancy of effort, inferior only to him 
by whom he was commanded. 

Though not strong enough to hold fast his con» 
quest, and compelled to retreat, in less than ten days 
afterwards, and on the very day that many of his meit 
were entitled to their discharge, v/e find Washington 
again on this same theatre, fronting with such troops,. 
a recruited, disciplined and powerful army— who exul- 
tingly waited only for the coming light to overwhelm 
him. When that light came, the patriot army was 
not to be seen by the astonished foe, but the echoes of 
battle, from the heights of Princeton, told them where 
it was to be found, and how employed. And there, 
again, victory rewarded the hazardous enterprise-— 
and the blood of Mercer gave sacredness- to the tri- 
umph. 

This exhibition of military skill and enterprise, re- 
vived the drooping spirits of a desponding people, 
and extorted the applause of Europe. He had beea 
regarded as the Fabius; he was now the Marcellus of 
the war. His caution, firmness, promptness in expe>- 



15 

<Sient, intrepidity in action, boldness of enterprise and 
fortitude in trial, gave him a rank in military fame 
corresponding with that vv^hich he held in the affec- 
tions of his country. He enjoyed an uncontrolled 
dominion in the hearts of those whom he led, through 
afflictions to victory — ^and gloriously did he exhibit 
that dominion, when at the close of the war, his 
troops, with arms in their hands, demanded from jus- 
tice, the relief of their wants ; and nothing short of his 
power, could have restrained them from enforcing 
their demands. For such an act, Britain Avould have 
erected a monument; Rome, in her proudest days, 
would have decreed a triumph. 

The jealous spirit of liberty had looked with some 
alarm at his power, when the command of all the ar- 
mies was assigned to him. The examples of the 
common herd of heroes, were remembered i and on 
more than one public occasion, the hope was express- 
ed to him, that he would be wilhng to resign that 
power, when the object of it was accomplished. They 
did not then comprehend the spirit of the man. He 
was not only willing, but he did make the surrender, 
under circumstances without a parallel in human an- 
nals. It was not to a mighty monarch, whose subject 
he was, and the power of whose dominions might be 
brought to enforce his commands — it was not to an or- 
ganized and powerful metropolitan government, which 
could marshal the provinces of the empire to execute its 
mandates — it was to a disjointed and enfeebled confe- 
deracy — to a small assembly of men, who represented 
that confederacy, and who, without his aid, were power- 
less to execute their purposes. In that assembly there 



16 

was one, whose position illustrates the magnanimity 
of the act, and enhances the glory of the scene. The 
subaltern, to whom I have alluded, as wounded 
at this place, was there; and into the hands of that 
subaltern, with others, as the representatives of the 
people, his Commander-in-Chief surrendered his com- 
mission and his power ! What are the triumphs of 
Pharsalia and Austerlitz, and Waterloo, to such a tri- 
umph as this ! Justly did the President of that assem- 
bly, with emotion, declare to him — " Having defended 
the standard of liberty in this new world, having 
taught z lesson useful to those who inflict, and to those 
who feel oppression, you retire from the great theatre 
of action, with the blessings of your fellow citizens — 
but the glory of your virtues will not terminate with 
your m^ilitary command, it will continue to the re- 
motest ages;" — and it will so continue. The lan- 
guage of every civilized nation, in which that glory is 
rehearsed, must be forgotten, before it can cease to 
travel onward with augm^enting greatness. 

Let it not be imagined that these reflections result 
from a conviction, that the continuance of his autho- 
rity, and the assum.ption of despotic military power by 
him, would have been an easy task. The spirit of 
that day, would have rendered it necessary for him to 
travel through fields of blood, before he could have 
consolidated that power — but was his magnanimity 
less glorious ? — was the example less illustrious? It 
proved that he was wilhng to surrender power — was 
worthy of his compatriots — of his country — and of the 
cause; those compatriots, too, were worthy of him. A 
single traitor only, was found in ail their ranks; and 



1 ff 

they ^^ho survived him and reoiain, to this day, whe- 
ther in prosperity or adversity, are the subjects of 
affectionate regard. Even the humble garments of 
the pensioner, who faithfully followed his standard, 
are honored by patriotic feeling. Would that the 
gratitude of the government had been less tardy, in 
manifesting its sense of obligation ! 

But the glory of the warrior is never complete, until 
crowned by the greener laurels which grow in peace. 
Success in battles, often leaves the victors more 
wretched than the vanquished. Peace only can nur- 
ture the growth of human happiness, and he who de- 
posits with posterity a fame, connected only with the 
sword, will hazard the loss of that renown for which 
he fought. But he, who having triumphed in a just 
cause, shall aid in confirming the rights for which he 
contended, and labor to perpetuate their enjoyment, 
need not fear lest execrations, instead of blessings, shall 
accompany his name. Washington, hke others, saw 
the prize which had been won, in jeopardy, from the 
feebleness of that bond which connected the separate 
portions of his country. An Union, not a confede- 
racy — a government, capable of enforcing the public 
wishes, not a compact which was without the power 
to guard against infractions of its will, was needed for 
the prosperity and growth of the nation. It M'as 
needed also, to hold out to a doubting world, the evi- 
dence that a democracy may be strong, peaceful and 
permanent. The convention, in which an effort was 
to be made to accomplish these objects, recalled 
Washington again to the service of his country. A 
revolution was then to be effected, greater than that 



18 

which had changed colonics into independent powers. 
In the one, the battle of liberty had been fought; in 
the other, that liberty was to be secured — in the one, 
foreign control was to be discarded ; in the other, 
independence of that control was to be maintained — 
in the one, the interests of all con:ibined to insure the 
victory ; in the other, these interests w'ere to be re- 
conciled and rendered coincident — in the one, thirteen 
confederated colonics were to be made free; in the 
other, thirteen separate and independent, free states, 
were to be bound together, on equal terms, and those 
terms ensuring the reign of law and civil order. 

It was a task w^orthy of Washington and the men 
by whom it was essayed — nor should it surprise, that 
even they could not present a scheme for its attain- 
ment to meet the unanimous concurrence of a peo- 
ple, suspicious of arbitrary power, though fraught 
with wisdom, and worthy of an age of enlight- 
ened and chastened freedom. For the value of its 
particular form and provisions, we are doubtless in- 
debted more to others, than to Washington; but for 
its ultimate adoption, the principal obligation is due 
to him. His name recommended it to popular affec- 
tion. It demanded large concessions of authority 
from local pride and interests; his advice assured 
them that these concessions were meant for good and 
not evil. It transferred the control over the public 
purse; they felt, that he who was wise to foresee dan- 
ger, and had refused all emolument for public services 
without count and beyond price, would not, for self- 
ish or unworthy considerations, place the public trea- 
sury in unsafe hands. It made an absolute surrender 



w 

of the sword ; but they knew that lie who had volEir?--- 
tarily deposited the sword in the sanctuary of the law^ 
would not withdrav/ it, to be wielded for the prostra-^ 
tion of the law. In the construction of its terms, it 
was susceptible of encircling extensive and magnifi^- 
cent powers; but they foresaw, that they could con^ 
fer on him the first opportunity to expound it:— and 
their confidence in him, constrained the assent of 
thousands. Under these circumstances, he owed it 
to them'^-to his own precious name with posterity 
- — to the cause of human freedom in after times, to 
accept its administration; to aid in estabhshing its 
construction, and to set an example of internal and 
external policy, persuasive with those who should suc- 
ceed him. He did meet this demand, and by his wis« 
dom as a statesman, completed tliat monument of hu-' 
man glory which shall last when cenotaphs and py- 
ramids shall have crumbled into dust. 

I need not recur to the principles by which he was? 
governed, and the policy he pursued. When he was 
about to resign his civil authority, as he had before 
resigned his military power, he left to us, his political 
legacy — which has this day been read to us — and we- 
shall best honor his memory, by a reverential regard 
for the principles it contains. In every line of it we 
read the language of a father's heart, solicitous for the 
welfare of his children— the wisdom of a statesman 
who embraced within his comprehension the widest 
interests of his country and of man— the friend of 
equal and just laws — the lover of the Union as the' 
ark of safety, which must not be approached with, 
Biihallowed purposes— tlie advocate of civil liberty 



throughout the world. It is a precious legacy— and 
if, oil that height of prosperity oo wiiich we stand, 
we will but listen to its warnings, in our aspirations 
of ambition— in the exacerbations of local interests 
and passions— in the mad strugglings of party strife, 
we shall act wisely for ourselves— safely for our coun- 
try, and justly to his fame, which forms so fair a por-* 
tion of our rich inheritance. We need not fear that 
we shall elevate him too highly in our praises; or co- 
py too closely his bright example. It is the deliber- 
ate judgment, pronounced not by this country alone, 
but by all countries, that in purity, as well as splendor 
of character and magnitude of service to the happi- 
ness of his fellow creatures, he stands without an 
equal. With whom shall we compare him? Alexan- 
der? Caesar? Napoleon? the heroes of every age? 
They commanded larger armies; slaughtered more 
human beings ; and sometimes exhibited a few of the 
virtues of humanity; but unlike him, they were fierce 
and bloody, cruel from disposition or policy; and 
with remorseless fury, trampled down the rights and 
feelings of others. Shall we compare him with Epa- 
minondas and Scipio the elder ? The one was inferior 
in the extent and compass of his views, the justice 
of his policy towards the sister states of Greece, and 
did not live to crown his fame by the surrender of his 
power. The other, though virtuous and just, the 
friend of peace, and adorning the age in which he liv- 
ed, had not to contend with superior science, and 
force, and discipline, nor to struggle with accumulat- 
ed difficulties in the creation of his means of action in 
a young and feeble country. His triumphs over Han- 



21 

nibal were tlie effects of Roman power aod organiza™ 
tion. Trajan and Anrclius, Alfred and Gustavus, 
and Germanicus and many others, were illustrious 
men ; but they souglit power, for its own sake, and 
lived rather for themselves, than their country. — ■ 
Washington alone, rose above every selfish consider- 
ation, and lived for his country and mankind. 

It is not chiefly for his military deeds, that I would 
present him as the object of veneration to the old, 
and of imitation to the young. All cannot be com- 
manders of armies^ — and under the favor of Heaven, 
we hope to meet no crisis in which a large portion of 
his military virtues may be imitated— but, all may be 
virtuous citizens— all may adopt the principles which 
governed his life—all may seek the high reward of 
good purposes, and aim at noble ends, by noble means. 
He was calm in all his deliberations — prompt, yet cor- 
rect in decision — ardent, yet cautious and persevering 
in execution — with a fortitude which disaster and mis- 
fortune could not shake— a prudence which was 
never disconcerted — a wisdom which always discern- 
ed the right course— with strong native passions, 
wisely controlled and governed, impelling him for- 
ward, yet obedient to the dictates of his judgment — 
and above all, possessing that decision and moral 
courage which dared to do whatever conscience and 
duty required. These high attributes of character, 
resulted from principle and discipline. He was mod- 
est, and never courted applause. He attributed " to 
the interposition of Providence, and not in any degree 
to his personal agency, the complicated and mighty 



22 

events of the revolution, and the adoption of the gen- 
eral government ; claiming only, the merit due to an 
honest zeal for the good of his country." His desire 
was to do right, and he never faltered in the pursuit. 
He was widely benevolent and extensively charitable — 
indefatigable in industry. He saw clearly the only 
safe foundation on which a system of free laws, and 
self government can restj and he was therefore the 
friend and munificent patron of education. It was his 
favorite maxim, that " there exists, in the economy of 
nature, an inseparable connexion, between duty and 
advantage." He openly avowed his belief in the Re- 
cord of eternal truth, and the avenue opened for guilty 
man to find forgiveness — and from the elevation on 
which he stood, proclaimed, that "the smiles of Hea- 
ven, can never be expected on a nation, that disregards 
the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven 
itself has ordained." Such was the man — and these, 
" the great principles of magnanimity and wisdom," 
which he regarded as forming " the basis of sound 
policy and durable glory." And such he continued, 
unchanging in his course, until death. When Epa^ 
minondas was asked, which was the greater man, he 
or Pelopidas-— he answered ^^icait till we die.'''' It is 
perseverance to the end, in virtuous conduct, which 
gives beauty and perfection to human character — and 
to this the claim of Washington is complete. 

We may then love — and venerate — and seek to 
imitate him ! And as a centennial revolution has come 
round, to remind us of his birth and of his virtues, 
the public expression of their feelings toward him be-' 



0,.1 



comes alike the people and their rulers. The appro-? 
priate expression of the feelings of the whole nation 
would have been the desposit of his ashes in their 
common Capitol— -that privilege is withholden — but 
the century has been closed by repeating and recording 
the Nation's wish. It has been a century of revolu- 
tion, of change, of religious, scientific and political ad^ 
vancemcnt. The sciences have ceased to be, what 
they were, the possession of the schools, and have 
become common property. Morals and Religion have 
advanced towards their final triumph ; some govern- 
ments have been uprooted from their foundations; 
the power of tyranny has been every where shaken ; 
the principles of equal justice have progressed; and 
all nations have ameliorated their laws. 

And amidst all this change, mth the exception of 
the progress of the Cross, in christian and heathen 
lands, there has appeared no object more dear than- 
the life and death of the soldier of liberty ; no events 
more imposing than those with which he has been 
connected. Next to Religion, Liberty is the pearl 
of price to the human race; and in those events 
are found its best illustration and its surest hopes. 
The example set here, by him and the men of his 
day, and thus far continued to us, has been seen^ 
and felt, and followed. The institutions of Greece 
found no imitators— the laws of Rome no adop- 
tion but through force — -the balanced government 
of England has excited no competition ; but the Amer- 
ican example is already penetrating the darkness of 
European despotism ; has lighted the fires of liberty 



24 

around the palaces of kings, and planted her stand* 
ard, on the highest Andes. And wherever that exam- 
ple has been known, the name of Washington has 
been heard, liolding out to ambition its loftiest prjze i 
to tyranny its strongest warning ; to enslaved man^' 
assurance of ultimate reliefo Let us then, with hum- 
ble and devout acknowledgments to Heaven, rejoice, 
he was given to us, and to our country. 



1 DKWI.,'9fi 



